


silence

by curlsinthewind



Series: thiam one-shots [23]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Relationship, Protective Liam Dunbar, Sharing a Bed, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:01:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlsinthewind/pseuds/curlsinthewind
Summary: “You woke me up.”“I’m sorry.”
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Series: thiam one-shots [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820470
Comments: 14
Kudos: 131





	silence

**Author's Note:**

> This has been done so many times before but I don't care. oops

Theo was on his third black coffee today. Liam was surprised that the chimera wasn’t already flying across the room due to the huge amount of caffeine in his esteem. As he watched him, the too hot liquid sliding down his throat, Liam noticed that the chimera’s hands were shaking. How could they not? Maybe Liam counted wrong because as he looked into the sink full of dishes, there were exactly three other cups, meaning that Theo’s third coffee was actually his fourth.

He watched that boy closely, seeing those dark bruises under his eyes wasn’t anything new. Everyone knew Theo had hard time sleeping, well – no one knew besides Liam and his parents so maybe saying that everyone knew was a little bit exaggerated but it was somewhat easier assuring himself that Liam wasn’t, _couldn’t_ be practically the only person that could help Theo out.

It wasn’t hard, noticing the other boy’s sleeping habits. Theo would be in his room, doing homework or whatever chimera’s of death liked to do in their free time when Liam went to bed and when Liam would wake up, Theo would be already downstairs, showered, with eaten breakfast and watching some cooking show on television, like he was sitting there the whole night.

Concern glazed over the Geyer-Dunbar’s faces every time Theo came back from school, absolutely exhausted, his backpack hanging on his shoulder like a lifeless body. The chimera would always try to persuade them otherwise, he would smile and talk about the test that made his brain hurt and that’s why he looked like a zombie. He knows the family doesn’t buy it but still, he continues, telling lie after lie, trying to persuade everyone that everything is absolutely okay.

Sometimes Liam wondered if Theo wanted to persuade just himself.

“Okay no, that’s it.”

One day, he just lost it. He has been staring at the chimera for the past hour. It was just eight in the evening but Theo was crouching over some book and his body didn’t even flinch the whole time. It was like he was sleeping but his mind was still racing. His head was slowly but surely dropping down with each minute and those green eyes were glassy, fighting to be opened as wide as they could.

Liam was done looking at the hopeless boy, trying to keep himself awake with the fourth cup of coffee. At this point the liquid couldn’t even work with the pace Theo was drinking it in.

“What?” Theo’s gaze slowly dropped on Liam, looking confused and so so tired. His voice was raspy and accompanied with such weakness that the werewolf didn’t want to do anything more than just to hold the boy in his arms and lull him to sleep.

“You are going to bed right now,” he said demandingly, _daring_ Theo to protest. There was no way Liam was not getting what he wanted.

“’m not tired,” he mumbled but his eyes closed once again and the grip on the book loosened which was a clear sign that Theo certainly was tired and his body was aching for rest.

“Like hell you aren’t. Come on, let’s go.” He stood up, motioning for Theo to follow him but the chimera just sat there, trying to gulp down the remaining coffee in his mug, furrowing his eyebrows as nothing slid down to his mouth.

“I’m not tired, Liam. Leave me alone.” The voice was much more awake now and Liam wondered how much energy did he have to waste just to keep that harsh tone during the whole sentence.

Liam looked at Theo one more time. Curled up in an armchair in their living room, enormous hoodie hanging loosely around his body, brown hair messed up and falling into his eyes, one hand under his chin barely holding his head up, fingers hidden in the sleeves of the hoodie making the boy look incredibly _soft_ and vulnerable. So so vulnerable, making Liam crave for one and only desire. Liam wanted to protect him, take care of him, bring him back to the old annoying chimera he knew.

This was not the old Theo at all, this was not the boy who killed his sister, this was not the boy who killed many many people.

This was Theo that was punishing himself for his past, this was Theo who thought that he didn’t deserve better, this was Theo who looked so broken and yet so small in the armchair.

“I can clearly see you are tired. Come on. I’ll wait until you fall asleep.” At that, the chimera raised his eyebrows in a cocky way but not for too long before his eyes closed, looking like every single expression on his face hurt.

“You’re gonna watch me sleep? How come I didn’t know about your fetish, Dunbar?” But Liam knew better, Liam knew that Theo was just hiding his insecurities behind remarks and smirks. He didn’t know when he got so good at reading the other boy but maybe it had something to do with them being each other’s anchors. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Liam was so accustomed to Theo’s scent that every slight change startled him. It was obvious now that Theo was feeling terrible.

“Yes, come on.”

Theo looked surprised at that answer, probably expecting Liam to get angry at him and let the whole thing be but after Liam turned around to go upstairs to their room, it was clear that there wasn’t going to be any fight tonight.

Liam watched Theo carefully as he brushed his teeth and waited for him as he took another shower. The guest room wasn’t any big but taking in consideration the chimera’s earlier living situation, it was better than nothing.

Then Theo slid into his bed under the sheets, glaring at Liam, throwing deadly daggers at him.

“I’m in bed, happy now?” And no, Liam wasn’t happy because he said he’ll be in the room until Theo sleeps that night. He just shook his head and looked at the boy from the middle of the room he was just standing in.

“No, I don’t see you sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep with you in the room.”

“What’s the difference in us being in the same house and in us being in the same room?” Theo didn’t respond, just looked to the other side of the room, looking like a small child, hiding from monsters under the bed.  
“How much did you sleep yesterday?” Quiet.  
“Theo.”

“Two hours.”

“And the day before?”

“Three.” God, Liam should have seen it coming. He should probably question the reason for the insomnia, Theo was obviously suffering from. He should probably ask him why he was doing this to himself but when Liam was just a kid and couldn’t sleep, his mom would always bring him hot milk and cuddle with him until he fell asleep.

Liam was not cuddling with Theo, that was for sure. But hot milk could work.

“Wait here.”

Theo wasn’t very pleased about the hot milk, telling Liam he was not a child which Liam responded by telling him to stop acting like a child then. The chimera was probably too tired to argue so he just rolled his eyes and chugged the milk down.

By the second hour of Theo staring at the ceiling it started to get boring.

“God, how much longer can you stay awake?” he groaned sitting up from his place on the ground finding the chimera in the same position he was in the last half hour.

“I told you I’m not tired.”

“Then you give me no other option.” Theo raised his head at that, supporting his body with his elbows.

“Which is?”

“Intervention.” The chimera groaned but Liam was already on his way to the bed, lying next to the other boy.

“No, absolutely not. Go away.”

But Liam absolutely ignored him, turning to his side to face Theo.  
“So what’s your plan, huh? You’re going to stay awake until your body just gives up? You’re going to function without any sleep for how long exactly? Two hours are not enough, Theo.”

Theo sighed and probably, for the first time, closed his eyes, his hand tangling in his hair and pulling slightly.  
“I’m a werewolf, science experiment, my body won’t just give up,” he said and his voice sounded so tired, as tired as it could get.

“That’s your excuse?” Silence.  
“What are you so scared of?”

The chimera swallowed loudly, opening his eyes again, green irises lightning up the room.  
“I know that two hours of sleep are not enough but it’s just enough for me not to dream.”

That sentence did not make sense at all.

“What?”

And Theo was probably really exhausted because there was no smirk waiting for him when Liam turned to the chimera. Instead his eyes closed again.  
“You dream just in some phases of your sleep. If I wake up before that phase, I’m safe.”

“Safe from what?”

Liam watched as Theo’s hand landed on his chest, the boy took a shuddering breath before he let out a quiet “Tara.”

“Your sister?” Silence.  
“Do you have nightmares about her?” Still nothing. Liam wondered if maybe Theo fell asleep but the rapid heartbeat told him differently. After a while, Theo hummed in agreement.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Silence.

“No.”

“Okay.”

Liam fell asleep before he could check on the chimera.

______________________

Theo was gone in the morning, his side of the bed cold and abandoned for quite some time.

His plan didn’t work but still, there was some kind of pride inside his chest. Theo opened up to him, even if just a little.

Theo was emptying another cup of coffee when he came down to the kitchen, the bruises under his eyes deeper, purpler.

“You want a ride to school?”

______________________

Liam couldn’t focus in school. His mind wandered to the boy not sleeping next to his room, he thought about how small he looked, he thought about how vulnerable he looked, he thought how his breath hitched when Theo thought about his sister.

Liam wanted to make it better; he wanted to make those nightmares go away. He didn’t know why nor what were his reasons to be so overprotective over him but maybe it was his wolf, maybe it felt another member of his pack hurting. Maybe it was just his instinct or maybe he felt something more for the other boy. Maybe he hated seeing Theo like that, when the person he lo- liked was afraid of his dreams.

Liam let him be. That night he went to bed with a hope that the right idea would come to him when his head was clear. He just had to sleep on it.

It didn’t come. In fact, Liam woke up in the middle of the night to loud huffs and grunts. God, if Theo was jerking off, Liam was making him move away immediately. He was not tolerating this.

Theo was not jerking off, to the werewolf’s surprise; Theo was working out in the middle of the night with headphones in his ears. Liam had to suppress the bile creeping up his throat as he watched the sweat sliding down the other boy’s arms. This was not supposed to be that attractive. He wanted to come into the room but as soon as his legs tried to move, they gave up. So now Liam was tripping over his own feet even though he was a damn werewolf.

This seemed to break Theo from his actions as he stopped and turned around to look at the other boy.

“Liam? What are you doing here?”

“Laying? What does it look like to you?” His fall maybe didn’t look that gracious when Theo looked down at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“But why are you laying on the floor of my room?” he asked suspiciously, glaring at Liam. The chimera was too curious for his liking.

“What are you doing up at...three in the morning? What the hell, Theo?” This seemed to do the trick and the room was suddenly surrounded by silence. Damn silence.  
“Did you sleep at all today?” he asked with concern clear in his voice. Theo looked away, the sweat still sliding down from his arms, his neck, forehead, some even caught on his bottom lip. If he didn’t look like a literal corpse, Liam would surge forward and kiss it away but it wasn’t the right time. It never was anyways.

“I fell asleep in math today.”

“Theo.”

“Sorry.”

Liam managed to get up and looked around the room. It was clean, cleaner than yesterday, it also smelled of sweat and exhaustion, obviously.

“You woke me up.”

“I’m sorry.” And Theo probably thought that he’s going to leave again but Liam had a better idea. His feet dragged him to the bed where he carefully got under the sheets, getting comfortable in a bed that horrifyingly didn’t smell like Theo at all.  
“What are you doing?”

“You didn’t like it when I laid on the floor, isn’t the bed enough for you?” he looked at the chimera from behind the sheets, knowing very well that he must’ve looked terrible. His hair was sticking to his forehead, his pyjamas shrunk and with a puffy face. Theo’s gaze flickered from the bottom of the bed to Liam’s face, hesitating before an answer was coming out of him.

“That’s my bed.”

“You have to use it to claim it yours,” he mumbled and before Theo could figure out a comeback, Liam was talking again.  
“Do whatever you do to damage yourself, I’m going to be here for the rest of the night,” he said, shutting the other boy up, seeing as Theo frowned again but said nothing.  
“Don’t mind joining me any time.”

Theo’s snort was the last thing he heard before passing out.

_______________________

Theo’s bed smelled a little more like Theo in the morning. It was still cold and abandoned but it was still clear that he slept at least a bit that night. Liam felt happiness bubbling up in him. He did it.

It was a good plan, he would come to Theo’s room and fall asleep while the chimera was doing his own thing and in the morning, every time the bed felt warmer and warmer with each passing night.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Silence. And still, the chimera never said a thing. Maybe it wasn’t just his thing, maybe he didn’t like talking and Liam didn’t push him. Sometimes punching a wall was much better than cutting yourself open to someone.

So they slept in the same bed for a few hours before Theo would wake up again, still exhausted but with those bruises much smaller and less…dangerously looking. Silence, silence, silence. Only their heartbeats next to each other, playing songs and rhythms in the middle of the night.

One day Theo forgot to wake up before his nightmare struck again. Liam woke up to trembling chimera next to him. He was shaking, his lips were parted and mumbling something incoherent. His forehead was painfully scrunched together and when he let out a long heavy breath, Liam knew Tara was there, haunting him.

“Theo, wake up. Hey, wake up.” He wasn’t waking up, still trembling, sweating, mumbling, _screaming._ Theo was screaming and it was the most terrifying thing Liam has ever heard.  
“Theo! You have to wake up! It’s just a dream! It’s not real!”

Then, like a snap of fingers, Theo’s eyes opened wide, his breath rapid, hands shaking.

“Li-Liam?” he croaked out, tears sliding down his reddened cheeks.

“You were just dreaming, it’s okay. I’m here.” The chimera blinked away any more tears creeping out from behind his lids. God, he looked exhausted.  
“Are you okay?”

Theo nodded and got up from the bed heading straight to the bathroom.

_____________________

Liam didn’t sleep that night. In fact he didn’t sleep in Theo’s room ever since, too afraid to make the nightmares appear again and make the chimera miserable. Making Theo insecure because he thinks he looked weak and vulnerable in front of Liam. Liam didn’t mind, he wanted to help.

Hell, he himself couldn’t sleep after that. How hard it must be for Theo?

“Goodnight, Theo. Try to get some sleep tonight, okay?” he once again whispered to the boy sitting at his desk, writing something. Theo looked up at him, smiling lightly and nodding and Liam wanted to leave without any other word, he really did but his body was suddenly moving forwards and then his arms were around the chimera’s shoulders, hugging him from behind. Theo’s breath hitched, heart skipping a beat before he lent into the touch.  
“I’m sorry.” And with that he left, leaving the silence behind him.

That night his bed creaked under the weight of another body. Liam wanted to turn around, check if everything was okay but before he could move, a pair of strong hands encircled his waist, forehead pressing softly against the back of his head.

The werewolf felt a calm breath on his neck; making him shiver, close his eyes in pleasure, serenity.

“Thank you.” Lips touched his skin carefully. Liam relaxed, closing his eyes, reaching out for the one hand around his waist, squeezing it tightly before entwining their fingers.

That night they slept without nightmares or a sister ripping hearts out. That night was probably the first night when Theo slept without any interruptions for the first time in many years.


End file.
